Adjustable kelley drive bushing



July 3, 1951 w. L. WHITE I 2,559,100

ADJUSTABLE KELLEY DRIVE BUSHING Filed Aug. 5, 1948 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 alAll r/ 77 ,l :l mlla I lllllmmlmug muuuuuuuug win L. White INVENTOR.

ATTORNEYS y 1951- w. L. WHITE 2,559,100

ADJUSTABLE KELLEY DRIVE BUSHING Filed Aug. 5, 1948 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 WillL. White INVENTOR.

ATTORNEYS Patented July 3, 1951 UNITED SITES 2 Claims.

The invention relates to a well drilling appa ratus, and moreparticularly it is directed to a drive bushing or Kelley bushing for usein cooperation with a rotary table of a well drilling rig to impartrotation to a polygonal drill stem extending therethrough.

In the rotary method of well drilling, power is supplied to a rotarytable mounted adjacent the floor of a derrick or a rig. A grief stem orKelley suspended from the derrick passes through the rotary and issecured to a drilling string. Rotation is imparted to the Kelley orgrief stem and the connected drilling string through the rotary table.It is, therefore, desirable that a proper driving connection between therotary and the grief stem or Kelley extending therethrough be had inorder to expedite the drilling of the well. More particularly, theengagement between the rotary table and the Kelley or grief stem must besuch that the drill stem may be moved vertically 1 The instant inventionis directed to a driving connection for arrangement in the rotary inorder to impart rotation to the Kelley or grief stem extendingtherethrough.

The driving connections in general use today employ rollers mountedhorizontally with respect to the rotary and arranged to engage the sidesurface of the Kelley or the grief stem extending therethrough. Therollers are of necessity so disposed with respect to the Kelley toprovide a small clearance therebetween, and the rotation of the drivingconnection moves the rollers into driving contact with the side surfaceof the Kelley or grief stem. Due to the above mentioned clearance andthe configuration of the rollers, it seems obvious that the rollers andthe grief stem will become Worn over a period of time. it, therefore,becomes necessary to replace the complete driving connection or Kelleybushing in order to maintain an efficient driving connection between therotary table and the Ke ley or grief stem extending therethrough.

An object of the instant invention is to provide a Kelley bushing foruse in a rotary table which bushing has rollers in engagement with aKelley extending through the rotary.

Another object of the invention is to provide in a Kelley drive bushingwhich has rollers to engage a Kelley or grief stem extendingtl1erethrough means for adjusting the rollers to accommodate Kelleys orgrief stems of varying size.

An other object of the invention is to provide a Kelley drive bushingwhich is provided with rollers for engaging a Kelley or grief stemextending therethrough, such rollers being resiliently mounted in theKelley drive bushing to facilitate adjustment thereof to accommodatedrill stems of varying size.

Another object of the invention is to provide a Kelley drive bushingwhich is provided with rollers that are readily adjustable to maintainthe proper contact with a Kelley or grief stem extending therethrough aswear occurs on the rollers or the Kelley.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a Kell y drivebushing for use in a rotary table which drive bushing is provided withrollers to en age the Kelley or grief stem extending through the rotarymeans for adjusting the rollers to increase or decrease the openingtherebetween so as to accommodate grief stems or Kelleys of varyingsize.

A further object of the invention is to provide in a Kelley drivebushing a plurality of rollers which are adjustable to contact griefstems or Kelleys of varying size extending through the bushing.

A further object of the invention is to provide in a Kelley drivebushing a plurality of rollers which are adjustable to contact griefstems or Kelleys of varying size extending through the bushing, therebeing means associated with the Kelley drive bushing for retaining therollers in such adjusted position.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a Kelley drivebushing which is provided with rollers to contact a Kelley or grief stemextending therethrough, said rollers being adjustable in order tomaintain the proper contact between such rollers and the Kelley passingtherethrough as wear occurs on the Kelley or the rollers.

Yet a further object of the invention is to provide a Kelley drivebushing including a body with a plurality of cages arranged therein androllers mounted in the cages to engage a Kelley or grief stem extendingthrough the body, said rollers'being adjustable to contact Kelleys ofvarying size.

A still further object of the invention is to pro vide a Kelley drivebushing including a-body and plurality of cages therein, said cagesbeing resiliently mounted within the body and having a plurality ofrollers to contact a Kelley or grief stem extending through the bushing,and means for adjusting the rollers in order to maintain the propercontact with Kelleys or grief stems of varying size passing through thedrive bushing.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become more readilyapparent from a consideration of the following description and drawings,wherein:

Figure 1 is a vertical sectional view taken on the line ll of Figure 2and illustrating the preferred embodiment of the invention.

Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the device as illustrated in Figure 1.

Fig. 3 is a vertical elevational view illustrating a form of one of thecages used in the invention.

Fig. 4 is a vertical sectional view of Fig. 3 illustrating more clearlythe form of the cage shown in Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is a top plan view of the cage member shown in Fig. 3.

The Kelley bushing includes a body 2 of any suitable configuration whichcan be arranged in the rotary table. An opening 3 in the central portionof the body 2 is arranged to receive a plurality of cages 4 thereinwhich have the rollers 5 mounted on shafts 5 so as to rotate in asubstantially horizontal plane with respect to the table. The cages arearranged in the opening 3 so that the rollers 5 form an opening Ithrough which 'a Kelley or grief stem may be received, and a passage 8in the bottom 9 of the body 2 is provided so that the Kelley may extenddownwardly through the drive bushing. Disposed in the opening 3 betweenthe lower end H] of the cage members 4 and the button [2 of the opening3 is a spring ll abutting the lower end In of the cages. The spring H isunder compression so that it continually tends to urge the cage members4 upwardly out of the body 2.

It is to be noted that the opening 3 is provided with a suitable taperI4 on the inner surface thereof, there being a conforming taper face [5on the two outer back surfaces of the cages 4 so that as the cagemembers are moved vertically downwardly in the opening 3 they will bemoved closer together, thereby decreasing the distance between therollers and making the opening 7 smaller therebetween. Similarly, thehigher the cages are positioned in the opening, the larger will be theopening I therebetween. Thus the size opening can be regulated byadjusting the cages vertically in the opening 3.

A flange I6 is arranged on the upper portion of the body 2 to receive aplate I8 on which the cover I9 is mounted. Openings 20 and 2| in theplate I8 and cover l9, respectively, are arranged in alignment with theopening 3 in body 2 to receive the Kelley or grief stem therethrough. Inorder to retain the cages 4 in a predetermined position within theopening 3 a hold-down plate 22 is provided, which has an opening 23therein through which the Kelley or grief stem passes. Contacting thehold-down plate are a plurality of suitable means, such as bolts 25,which are provided with nuts 26 arranged adjacent the top of the platel8. Rotation of the bolts in the desired direction moves the hold-downplate 22 and the cage members 4 down into or up out of the opening 3.

In Figure 2 the cages or cage members 4 are shown arranged in theopening 3 of the body 2. The cage members can be of any suitable shapeand configuration, as illustrated in Figures 3, 4, and 5, wherein thepreferred embodiment of the invention is shown. However, it is to benoted that the invention is not limited to the configuration of thecages herein illustrated, and while four cages are shown as beingpositioned within the opening 3, this number may vary, depending uponthe kind of Kelley or grief stem used. For example, ordinarily a squareKelley or grief stem will be used; however, occasionally a six-sidedKelley or other similar polysided grief stem will be used, whichnecessitates additional cages with roller surfaces thereon to engage theside surfaces of the Kelley. It is desirable, but not necessary that aset of rollers 5 contact each side surface of the Kelley, regardless ofthe number of side surfaces on the Kelley.

The rollers 5 are shown in the drawings as being mounted on the shafts 6within the recesses 30 longitudinal of the cages 4, so that they willrotate in substantially a horizontal plane. It seems obvious that anysuitable mounting and arrangement of the rollers can be provided withinthe cages so that such rollers contact the Kelley regardless of theposition to which the cages may be adjusted in the body 2.

While it is believed that the operation of the invention is apparentfrom the foregoing, by way of illustration and amplification it will beassumed that a Kelley or grief stem 31 is arranged in the Kelley drivebushing comprising the instant invention. Over a period of time therollers 5 and the Kelley or grief stem 3! will become worn because ofthe frictional contact therebetween as rotation is imparted from therotary table to the Kelley drive bushing to the rollers and subsequentlyto the grief stem. In order to maintain the proper driving contactbetween the rollers and the Kelley or grief stem, it then becomesnecessary to adjust such rollers to compensate for such wear.

In accordance with the instant invention, the hold-down plate 22 can beadjusted vertically to decrease or increase the distance between therollers 5 so as to maintain the proper contact with the Kelley or griefstem 3 i. If it becomes necessary to use a Kelley or grief stem of adifferent size on a particular well, it seems obvious that it will notbe necessary to replace the Kelley drive bushing in the rotary, butrather such bushing may be adjusted to receive the Kelley of the varyingsize.

While spring means are shown as being utilized to resiliently sustainthe cages 4 within the opening 3, it is particularly pointed out thatsuch cages could be mounted within the opening by any satisfactorymeans.

Broadly, the invention contemplates a Kelley drive bushing which isprovided with adjustable rollers to receive Kelleys of varying size.

What is claimed isi l. A rotary table drive bushing comprising a body, anon-circular tapered opening therein, four non-circular tapered cages,one in each corner of said opening, two tapered back support faces oneach cage to slide in a corner of said opening, a vertical recess in thefront corner of each cage, transverse shafts across said cage andspanning said recess, a cylindrical roller on each shaft and having itscylindrical periphery projecting from the front recessed corner of saidcage to provide a rolling contact for the Kelley drive stem to rollthereon as the Kelley is raised and lowered, the cage rollers beingspaced to receive and drive the Kelley as said body is rotated with therotary table.

2. A rotary table drive bushing comprising a body, a non-circulartapered opening therein, four non-circular tapered cages, one in eachcorner of said opening, two tapered back support faces on each cage toslide in a corner of said opening, a vertical recess in the front cornerof each cage, transverse shafts across said cage and spanning saidrecess, a cylindrical roller on each shaft and having its cylindricalperiphery projecting from the front recessed corner of said cage toprovide a rolling contact for the Kelley drive stem to roll thereon asthe Kelley is raised and lowered, the cage rollers being spaced toreceive and drive the Kelley as said body is rotated with the rotarytable, and spring means in said body opening below said cages to urgethe E cages upwardly as a resilient support, and hold down means on saidbody to adjustably position said cages and rollers to firmly grip androtate said Kelley.

WILL L. WHITE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

